A higher share of empty homes than 99% of compared French towns, at 21%
Flats: 79% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. 47% of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 88% of compared French towns. Saint-Claude had 8,386 residents in 4,190 households at the 2023 census. Census figures put households headed by a manual worker at 22% in the town.
Throughout this page, the Jura median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Saint-Claude
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Claude had 10,534 residents at the 2012 census and 8,386 in 2023, down 20%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 1,700 immigrants in Saint-Claude (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 20% of residents, against 7.6% for the median compared commune in Jura. 15% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,160 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−20% since 2012, a pace below 99% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
The change was −12% from 2012 to 2017 and −10% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Jura town −4%.
Saint-Claude is older than 77% of compared French towns: a median age of 48.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Claude 48.5. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 73% of compared French towns: 26%. Here, one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 19% of households are couples with children in Saint-Claude
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Jura median and the France median
Living alone · share
One in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 8.6% in Saint-Claude. There are 2 people in the average household. Elsewhere, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Saint-Claude sits above 84% of compared French towns for households without a car (20%)
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
5.1% of homes are second homes; in the typical compared French town the figure is 2.1%. The share of households without a car in the typical compared French town is 11%. Households in social housing account for 23%.
Standard of living at the median: €22,680 a year
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
Living standards centre on €22,680 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 84% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 22.0% of residents are below the line.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 84% of compared French towns: 5.1%
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
36% of households are headed by a retired person (typical compared French town: 32%). The wider picture: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Claude sits above 92% of compared French towns for immigrants (20%)
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
The median compared commune in Jura has 7.6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 92% of compared French towns. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. Locally, 15% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Saint-Claude ranks above 72% of compared French towns on single residents: 28%
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
Married residents: just over two fifths of the total. By way of comparison, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Saint-Claude ranks above 95% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 32%
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
By its share of graduates of higher education (21%), Saint-Claude is below 82% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 8,259 to 8,514 people: this is the 16th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Groslay (37.9), the youngest, and Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (63.7), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Saint-Claude
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Claude | 48.5 | 26% | 5.1% | 20% |
| Gex 13,627 · 10.3 mi | 35 | 10% | 6.2% | 23% |
| Cessy 5,832 · 11.2 mi | 36.9 | 10% | 4.4% | 22% |
| Arbent 3,555 · 11.4 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 1% | 24% |
| Hauts de Bienne 5,032 · 11.6 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 6.8% | 20% |
| Les Rousses 3,740 · 11.7 mi | 38.8 | 14% | 48% | 7.6% |
| Thoiry 6,569 · 12.1 mi | 39 | 13% | 6.1% | 34% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Saint-Claude
What is the population of Saint-Claude?
8,386 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% fewer than in 2012 (10,534).
How old are Saint-Claude’s residents?
The median age is 48.5, older than 77% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Claude?
290, with occasional dwellings: 5.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Claude?
INSEE counts 1,660 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 20% of residents, and 1,260 foreign nationals (15%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Claude?
€22,680 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% of residents live below the poverty line. Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.